Safety wrench



R. B. WELLBORN ET AL April 23, I940.

' SAFETY WRENCH Filed May 17, 1939 s Sheets-Sheet 1 [NVEN L "r R a p, M-Ra1 ko 9 W. 9 g

ATTORNEY SAFETY WRENCH Filed May 17. 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ere. 4

JNVENTORS A 5. WELLBOQN J. L. DYE

BY NR Pep/av I ATTORNEY April 1940- R. B. WELLBORN ETAL 08 SAFETY WRENCHFiled May 17, 1939 s Sheets-Sheet 3 N Y INVENTORS H I P. B. WELLBORN I In JLDYE 4 4 Na s/2w FIG. 5

ATTORNEY This invention. relates to: wrenches and par: ticularly tosafety wrenches ,forunscrewing and formaking up long lengths of pumprods, tubing, I

Patented Apr. 23,1940 v 3 e 2,193,908 N S E RE 1 ,n-Roy B. Wellbbrn,James L. Dye, and Neigelltj Perry, Osage, Okla.

Atea May; 17, .1939, Serial No. 274,136 f.

pipe, and the like in-deep WGHSQ- n When pump rods, tubing or. pipe havebeen made up tightly inlong strings, and especially when they have beeninplace in wells forlong periods of time, the screwed joints thereofbecome very tight or frozen and become very difiicult to unscrew. .Alsovery often, the pump; e which is located far down in the well, becomesstuck there and it becomes-impossible-to withdraw it so that thepumprods cannot be pulled up and unscrewed -joint-by-joint"as they arewithdrawn from the well. 5 Under 1 such condi- J tions it is generallydesirable to unscrew the rods as far down in the well as possible,without removing the well pipe. or tubing in which the rods are normallyinserted. When an attempt isv Q Fig. 1;

made to unscrewsuch long lengths of rods by turning of the upper end.thereof, the rods will twist through a great manyrevolutions'andlconsiderable torque stress will beset-up therein beforethe threads of amr joint down inthe well begins to give way. Undersuchconditions, when the upper end of the string of rods has been.turned a number of revolutions, the effect is similar to coiling apowerfulhelical spring so that if the upper end of the rod string isreleased or flies out of the grip of the men. turning the rods, a rapidand powerfuluncoiling of the rods 00- curs, due to the torsional stressset up therein,

and may, as frequently happens, result in in,- jury to the workers.The'same situation applies when making up long. strings. of rods,tubing, pipe and the like. I e e A principal object of this invention,-therefore, is to provide an apparatus designed topermit unscrewing ormaking-up of long'strings of rods,

tubing, pipe, and the like in deep; wells, while, retaining the twist ofthe strings underfullcon- I trol at all times, so that the. turning ofthe strings may be stopped at any time during the.

operation without releasing the strings and the normal back-las oi suchstrings maintainedunder full control of the operators at all times.Another object isto provide a safety wrench for unscrewing or making-uplong strings of well rods, tubing, and pipe, whereby the normalback-lashthereof is-held under full control and controllably released to produce.a sharp jarring of the strings to efiect release or tightening of thescrewed joints of the strings as may be desired.

Another important object is toprovide a safety Still .another object; isto provide a "safety wrench for unscrevvinsfiljointed.strings ofwellpump rods without :removing'the-weh pipe in which, they are normallyinserted. i

Additional important ob'ects of preferred modification of the invention.In the drawings;' I

section,

; Fig. 2 fis a top View or, thefa sisembled devic,

which are hinged together at oneside by-means of hinges 6+6 and providedat the oppo-sites-idesfi with registering apertured ears Sa -6a adapted1'35 j two sections tog'ether. Casing his provided nea'r,

to receive locking pins 62 for locking the its lower end with aninterior partition ghaving v an axial opening 3 ,-therethrough..Belowpartition 2 and seated suitable recesses iminthe innerjwall ofeasing I are,oplwsitehrdisposed toothedjaws 4.4', which are adaptedtobead-1:

vanced and retracted radially within casing :l by;

meansof gadjusting screws 55. ;A p air wo f di-d. ametrically opposedribs 1 -1 are formed or";

rigidly attached to the inner wall creasing I 45' above partition 2,=one:of the ribs l being in each; half- .orjthe casing and extends 5longitudinally.

thereof above partition 2.

A sleeve type wrench-generally tubular in con I 50 I als'q forrne'd halffsectionsfand; has a. central-'5 bore '9 therethroug'h adapted toenclose a well* structionand designated bythe numeral 8, is;

rod R..- The wrench may-be employedon'tubing or-pipe equally aswell'asqrod R. The. outerldi-; ameterfof. the lowerportion :l 0. ofwrench fill-i this invention'loi will be readily apparent from thef'ollowing detailed description, whenread in conjunction with r theaccompanying drawings'which illustrate ,a,

v .v Q Fig lis an assembly of the ,device mountedon a well pipe andshown partly in longitudinal h no 20i Fig. 3 is; a vlongitu nalsectionthrough the wrench proper. H

is a vplan viewtaken along line ll- 4 .o f zy Fig. 5 is alongitudinal-section of the Wrench l assembly placeon top 8 of'acylindrical casing I. made, in. two half sections;-'

such that the lower portion ID will pass freely through the opening 3and act as a guide for insertion of the wrench into casing I. 'The borel at the upper end of wrench 8 is enlarged and re- 13 cessed at 9a toreceive a fixed toothed die II and an oppositely disposed movable die I2which is provided with a shank I3 which extends through an opening 9?)in the wall of the wrench. The shank I-3 is threaded andnprovided withan ll adjusting nut' I4. By adjustment of movable die I2 by means of nutM, the movable die: I2 will co-act with fixed die I I to enclosed by thewrench (Figs. v1 and 2). A pair of oppositely disposed handles I -I5extend l5 laterally from opposite sides of? the upper end of.

1 wrench 8, and are used to turn the wrench and the rod being grippedthereby.

A ratchet wheelv I6 is also' made in'half secprojecting apertured earsI'I-I l registering with each other and adapted to' be joined togetherby means of pins ITa. Wheel 16 is provided with a central bore adaptedto receive therein a reduced intermediate portion of the wrench, wherebywrench 8 and wheel I6 will be: rotatable relative to each other. Thediameter of "wheel I6 is less than the diametric distance between ribs-'I-'-'I and the ears |II"I project sufiiciently from the periphery ofwheel l6 to engage ribs I, which lthus form-stops for limiting therotation of the v ratchet wheel. p i a The upper face of ratchet wheelI6 is provided with two concentric circular rowsof ratchet teeth, theteeth of the outer row being designated I 8, and those of the inner rowI9, I

which face in the opposite direction to teeth I8.

, A pair of pawls-2l320' engage the teeth 18 on opposite sides of wrench8 and are pivoted" on oppositely disposed shafts 2I-2I which extend 4laterally from opposite sides of wrench 8. A

second pair of pawls 22-22 similarly engage the teeth I 9 and aresimilarly pivoted onshafts 2 I 2! but face opposite directions to pawls20-20.

Chains 2323 attached to opposite sides of do wrench 8 are adapted to be:attached to eyes 24 24 mounted on pawls 20 and 22 when it is desired tolift any orall of the pawls out of their normal engagement with teeth I8and [9 respectively. I

The operation of the device may be exemplified by describing the removalof well pump rods from a well'where the tubing or well pipe P is tobekept in place. It will be understood that the operation-is similarlyapplicable to the removal of fifi' tubing or the inner strings ofwellpipe, where an outer string of in the well. g

The two halves of casing I are placed about the upper end of well pipe Pfrom which the rods fiu are' to be withdrawn and when the sections ofthe casing have been locked together by means of pins 6b, the jaws 44are advanced by means of screws 5-5 to securely grip the upper end ofpipe P. The two half sections'of wrench 8 in- '-cluding ratchet wheelI6, are then placed about the-upper end of rod R projecting above thetop of casing l and are locked together by looking together the halfsections of wheel I6 by insertion of pins Ila into the registeringaperture of ears II--I'l. The upper end of rod R passes between diesl Iand I2, the latter being in the open or nongripping position at thistime. The assembled wrenchisthen'slipped down rod R until the lowerportion lil'passes through opening 3 and isin- 75% serted into" theannular spacebe'tween rodR and pipe or' casing remains in place grip rodRwhioh is. -'torunscrew' the rod sections.

tio-ns, each of which is provided with laterally the inner wall of pipeP, being advanced therein until the lower face of ratchet wheel I6 comesto rest on the upper face of partition 2. Movable die I2 is thenadjusted by means of nut I4 until the rod R is tightly gripped betweenthe dies II and I2.

If the rods are to be unscrewed, the usual case, pawls 2222 are liftedand held out of engagement with the teeth I9 by hooking chains 23 toeyes 24..

Pawls 20-20 are left in-.engagement with the teeth IS. The handles l5-I5are then turned As the turning progresses, ears l'I-I I engage ribs 1-1and brings ratchet wheel IE to a stop, while rotation of the wrench 8and rod R continues, pawls 202U slipping over'teeth I8 during thismovement. Reerse rotation of the rods under the torsion developedthereiniseifectively prevented by the engagement of pawls 20 with teethl3 when such movement occurs and by the limiting action resulting fromthe engagement of ears I! with ribs 7 when a half-turn of the wheel l6takes place. Thisreverse rotation may be held back by the men at thehandles I5 to allow ears IT to come to rest easily against ribs IiHowever, it is frequently' desirable to jar the string of rods when theyhave been twisted to a suitable extent, as it is found that such ajar'will usually start the unscrewing of the rod joints where a steadypull is ineffective. Under theseconditions the handles i5 may bereleased suddenly with the result that the following reversehalf-rotation of the wrench,

between ribs 1-! takes place under the full force of the torsionalstress in the rods and the resulting contact of ears I I--I'I with ribs'Il takes place with considerable force and produces a sharpblow'or jarwhich is'transmitted to the rod string and is very effective'to startthe unscreW- ing ofthe rod joints generally at the lowest joint which issubjected tothe twist'of the rods. At

the same time the amount of back-lash thus permitted is positivelylimited, and is under safe control at all times.

The device may be similarly used to make up and break-out tubing andpipe. When makingup rods or pipe, pawls'Zil are held out of engagementwith teeth teeth I9'.

IBand pawls 22-22 engage with It will be understood that all of theparts of the described device are preferably constructed of steel orother strong metals suitable for withbe-made in the size, form anddetails of the parts of the-structure of this invention withoutdeparting from the scope'of the appended'claims.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is;

l. A wrench for unscrewing or making up a screw-jointed string of rodsor tubing within an outer pipe comprising, a cylindrical casing adaptedto be fixedly attachedt'o the upper end of said outer pipeandsurrounding said' string, a sleeve member insertable axially of saidcasing and having a hollow bore adapted to enclose said rods or tubing,gripping means positioned in the bore of said sleeve member and adaptedto grip said rods or tubing, means for rotating said sleeve memberrelative to said casing, and latch means operativebet'ween-said sleevemember and said cassleeve member induced by torsional stress developedinsaid rods or tubing by rotation of said sleeve member.

2. A wrench for unscrewing or making-up a screw-jointed string ofrods'or tubing within an outer pipe comprising, a cylindrical casingadapted to be fixedly attached to the upper end of said outer pipe andsurrounding said string, longitudinal stop members positioned on theinner wall of said casing, a sleeve member insertable in said casing andhaving a hollow bore adapted to enclose said rods or tubing, grippingmeans positioned in the bore of said'sleeve and adapted to grip saidrods or tubing, means for rotating said sleeve member relative to saidcasing, and latch means carried by said sleeve member cooperating withsaid stop members to positively limit reverse rotation of said sleevemember induced by torsional stress developed in said rods or tubing bythe forward rotation of said sleeve member. 7

3. A wrench for unscrewing or making up a screw-jointed string of rodsor tubing within an outer pipe comprising, a cylindrical casing adaptedto be fixedly attached to the upper end of said outer pipe andsurrounding said string, longitudinal stop members positioned on theinner wall of said casing, a sleeve member insertable in said casing andhaving a hollow bore adapted to enclose said rods or tubing, adjustablegripping means positioned in the bore of said sleeve member and adaptedto grip said rods or tubing, means for rotating said sleeve memberrelative tosaid ing to positively limit reverse rotation of-"said membercooperating with said stop members to positively limit reverse rotationof said sleeve 3 casing, and latch means carried by said sleevememberinduced by torsional stress developed in said rods or tubing bythe forward rotation of said sleeve member, said latch means comprisingan annular ratchet surrounding said sleeve member, and rotatablerelative thereto, projections extending laterally fromthe periphery-ofsaid ratchet, and pawls carried by said sleevemember and cooperatingwith said ratchet to force said ratchet to rotate with said sleevemember.

4. ,A Wrench of the class described comprising, a hollow cylindricalcasing; toothed jaws adjustably mounted in the lower end thereof, radialprojections extending longitudinally along the inner wall of saidcasing,'a hollow sleeve member insertable axially of said casing androtatable relative thereto, gripping means positionedin the bore of saidsleeve member, means for rotating said sleeve member relative to saidcasing, a horizontally positioned annular disk carried by said sleevemember and rotatable; relative thereto, spaced projections extendinglaterally from the periphery of said disk into engagement with saidradial projections in the casing, ratchet teeth carried by said disk,and cooperating pawls carried by said sleeve member whereby said sleevemember and said disk will rotate together in one direction. v l ROY B.WElL-LBORN.

JAMES LL DYE. NEIGEL R. PERRY.

